Racism happens in individual cases.

The test is whether they are applying a different standard to the black guy than the white guy. Or giving support or breaks to white guys that black guys don’t get.

If you can show me white tenured Harvard professors who don’t produce, I don’t need a regression analysis to know what time it is.

His story is pretty unique.

He *was* a tenured professor at Harvard for many years. He left when Summers publicly criticized him for his lack of academic output.

He then went to a tenured position at Princeton.

He was invited back to Harvard more than a decade later into a non-tenured role. I don’t know why they offered that and I don’t know why he took it.

My guess is some people wanted him back and some people didn’t and the people who did found it easier to avoid potential veto points if they structured the offer this way.

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Originally posted by piqué:

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Perhaps Massachusetts has aggressive investigative journalists like the heroes at the Mississippi Free Press....

sure they do. the boston globe has first class investigative reporters.

Well, I hope they at least turn over a few rocks and see what crawls out. The folks at the MFP did a public records request that took down a dean and uncovered a couple of major donors whose emails were indistinguishable from those of Klansmen. The chancellor is still in power, but it's not over yet.

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The test is whether they are applying a different standard to the black guy than the white guy. Or giving support or breaks to white guys that black guys don’t get.

And Jon has laid out the individual elements of the case. Professors at his level are often peripatetic, and superstars often move up. But leaving a place burns a lot of bridges. I'm hard pressed to think of many cases that compare.

In my own field, Paul Krugman is the one I know who left an institution (MIT) and then returned to it. He left MIT for Stanford and decided to return two years later. This was at a time in his life when he was a dominant intellectual force in the profession, having reshaped two separate fields in economics and won the John Bates Clark medal as the best economist under 40 (precursor to the Nobel). He then left MIT four years later for Princeton, where he won the Nobel and stayed for 15 years (retiring in 2015). His "retirement" gig is at the graduate center of CUNY. Not exactly a step up. And I'm pretty sure that Princeton wouldn't want to buy him back at this point, even though he is three years younger than West.

Apparently West feels his tenure denial has to do with his public and strong condemnation of Israel's treatment of Palestinian refugees.

This from the Chronicle -- not sure if you need a subscription

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The very fact that I have to think about a tenure process at this point in my calling is a sign of the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of Harvard. I was first tenured 37 years ago at Yale University and have served as University Professor — the highest faculty position — at Harvard and Princeton. Therefore, the only grounds I can conceive of Harvard’s refusal to pursue a tenure process for me are age and politics. Like everyone, I grow old. However, the recent invitation extended to me to give the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, Scotland, leads me to conclude that some people believe I have something significant yet to say. In regards to politics, I do not believe that my intense and joyful support of my dear brother Bernie Sanders for president is a cause of any concern on behalf of the powers that be at Harvard. So, I surmise it must be my deep Christian witness based on the idea that an ugly Israeli occupation of precious Palestinians is as wrong as any ugly Palestinian occupation of precious Jews. I would bear any burden or pay any cost in order to stay in contact with the precious humanity of any oppressed people.

-- Cornell West in the linked article, my bold

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Originally posted by Nina:
Apparently West feels his tenure denial has to do with his public and strong condemnation of Israel's treatment of Palestinian refugees.

This from the Chronicle -- not sure if you need a subscription

quote:

The very fact that I have to think about a tenure process at this point in my calling is a sign of the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of Harvard. I was first tenured 37 years ago at Yale University and have served as University Professor — the highest faculty position — at Harvard and Princeton. Therefore, the only grounds I can conceive of Harvard’s refusal to pursue a tenure process for me are age and politics. Like everyone, I grow old. However, the recent invitation extended to me to give the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, Scotland, leads me to conclude that some people believe I have something significant yet to say. In regards to politics, I do not believe that my intense and joyful support of my dear brother Bernie Sanders for president is a cause of any concern on behalf of the powers that be at Harvard. So, I surmise it must be my deep Christian witness based on the idea that an ugly Israeli occupation of precious Palestinians is as wrong as any ugly Palestinian occupation of precious Jews. I would bear any burden or pay any cost in order to stay in contact with the precious humanity of any oppressed people.

-- Cornell West in the linked article, my bold

Perhaps the fact that has moved around so much is part of it. Don’t most profs who get tenure at Yale, Harvard or Princeton stay put?

Jf

It depends. There's a lot of poaching that goes on for high-profile academics. Not all Ivy League tenured profs are high profile (Quirt, calm down ). I'm talking about academy fellows, Nobel prize winners, Fields medal winners, big-time grant recipients, or 'household name' faculty whose association with your university might grant some prestige. Seems to me that Prof West fits this category. For that group, there is a fair amount of movement. Lots of science types can be lured by the promise of lab space, lab funding, start up money, the ability to bring their research team (including grad students) with them. I'm less familiar with the perqs that go along with other types of faculty, though space, money and graduate assistants/research assistants surely is at the top of many. Perhaps also sabbatical clock adjustments, etc.

I'm honestly surprised that Harvard refused tenure, but gave him a 10 year contract. That's the odd thing for me, and what makes me (and others) suspect something else. Not granting tenure to a tenured faculty member from another institution (especially another top tier) is really odd. It's also free. Seems like Harvard tried to split the baby on this one, perhaps to their dismay given the press this is generating.

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Originally posted by Nina:
I'm less familiar with the perqs that go along with other types of faculty, though space, money and graduate assistants/research assistants surely is at the top of many. Perhaps also sabbatical clock adjustments, etc.

For folks like Dr. West, I imagine the enticements would include a reduced teaching load that allows them time to go be famous. And perhaps an increased travel budget, but invitations to lecture at that level would surely include travel costs in addition to an honorarium.

Absolutely, I forgot - reduced teaching load for sure.